I am always being told I don’t drink enough water.They tell me I should be drinking 2 litres a day , but really weight , gender and age also come into the equation. I personally struggle to drink anywhere near two litres or 3.5 pints.That seems an awful lot to me.But the experts say ……

How much water you should REALLY drink in a day revealed (and there’s a simple formula to use to calculate the amount you need as it’s different for everyone)

Medical research centre suggests men should drink 13 cups a day on average

It also reports women should drink about nine cups

But as every body is different a formula can work out the exact amount you need

From feeling less tired to clearing up spots, drinking enough water can cure all sorts of ills.

But the majority of people simply don’t drink enough of it.

Medical research centre the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota reveals that men should be drinking 13 cups of it a day on average, while women could consume nine.

But every person’s body is different – and the amount you really need to drink can be worked out using a simple scientific formula.

Symptoms of dehydration can include dry skin, a headache, dizziness and even fainting

How much water should you be drinking?

The formula for how much water you should be drinking:

Step 1: Take your weight (in lbs) and divide it by 2.2.

Step 2: Multiply that number by your age.

Step 3: Divide that sum by 28.3.

Step 4: Your total is how many ounces of water you should drink each day.

Divide that number by eight to see your result in cups.

If you’ve been drinking enough water throughout the day, your urine should be a very pale colour rather than a deep yellow

However if you exercise regularly, you’ll of course need to drink even more water to replace the liquid you’ll lose through sweat.The American College of Sports Medicine reports that you should drink an extra 12 ounces of water for every 30 minutes of exercise.

Your diet can play a large role in helping to keep you hydrated.

Eating foods with a high water content, such as watermelon, cucumber and celery, can help flush out toxins in your body.

However, eating salty foods can do the opposite as your body will retain fluids to help dilute the sodium you’ve just consumed – which is why we often bloat after eating sodium-rich foods, and get thirsty.

My calculation comes to 23 cups and this seems a bit excessive even for a fat B like me lol This is almost 3 litres .I worked it out for the Mrs and it was 19 cups .I noticed the calculation didn’t take into account your gender .It would seem to me the equation is wrong. 1 litre = 33.8 us fluid ozs and a cup = 8 fluid ozs

WHY?What has changed.Really my story has highlighted a much more serious problem , and that is not enough young people are trained as doctors.Is it because it takes 9 years training ,and who can afford to borrow thousands a year to pay for the fees? You would be starting your career with a huge burden around your neck. Not to mention when you first to into hospitals you are expected to work an obscene amount of hours for very low pay.This hardly encourages bright youngsters to go into the medical profession.

without radical treatment, the prospects for the NHS are not just bleak, they are catastrophic. If nothing is done, within a few short years, the health service as we know it will have ceased to exist.

A&E departments will not just be overstretched, they will be unrecognisable. Instead of queues reaching to the waiting room doors, they will be stretching into the streets. Waiting lists will grow like Topsy and slashing the number of operations will be standard.

GP services will have to be drastically reduced as their budgets are slashed. A growing number of hospitals will go bankrupt and staff, dedicated and highly trained, laid off.(Sunday Mail)

I think I have been given disgusting and very shabby treatment by the NHS.

On the 1st September I went to my gp at Arlesey Health Centre.

Dr Attias , a doctor with over 28 years experience said he thought the spots on my forehead were skin cancer

Dr Mike Attiasgraduated from University College, London in 1986. He was a partner in Luton for 14 years. He is a GP appraiser for Luton Primary Care Trust, Tutor for UCL and Cambridge Medical Schools and an examiner for UCL. He is also a member of the Local Medical Cttee. His main clinical interest is in cardiology.

He called in the other doctor on duty and got her Dr Riasat to give a second opinion.

Dr Rahhiel Riasatis the newest member of the clinical teamhaving recently joined from a large practice in Luton. She graduated from the University of Warwick in 2008. She is looking to develop an interest in minor surgery and education

I waited 2 months and then tried to chase up my consultant appointment. I had great difficulty getting the right number , I was cut off ,given lots of wrong numbers ,but I eventually got the right number 01438 314333 ext4129. I told her I was concerned and anxious to know if I had skin cancer or not , especially as my family and I have a history of cancer.

They said my letter was with the Dermatologist Dr Agawahl at Lister and they couldn’t do anything until they got the letter back from him.

I made another gp appointment , this time I saw a Lo-cum he got the receptionist Maureen Walker to ring Lister Hospital Stevenage.

They told her I would definitely be seen by the end of December.

The week before Christmas I still didn’t have an Appointment.

I made another gp appointment with Dr Riasat she re-referred me , but told me to be quick as she was running late , and she said to me is there anything else. LOL that’s fatal cos I always have something else to look at.

I knew this as I had been waiting for 45 minutes.

I now have an appointment at Herford County Hospital 28th January at 0900. This is even further away from Arlesey and at a rush hour time.

This is almost a five month wait. I thought they were supposed to see “alleged Cancer Patients quickly”.

Especially as I and my family have had a history of cancer .

I wrote this letter to the local paper , Biggleswade Chronicle , the rang the hospital and they were told my GP Dr Attias didn’t make it clear that he thought I had skin cancer. What do you think?

Arlesey Health Centre closed and all our doctors moved to the New Larksfield Surgery in Stotfold.

Doctor Attias re-opened it in 2004. I think we have had a good doctors surgery in Arlesey for the last 10 years , but now Dr Attias is leaving and 2 of his part time female doctors do not want to take over the mantle. One very good Dr A.Holt has left all together and I told the other Dr R.Riasat who I like is leaving mid January . I am concerned it will run by locums or privatised. So I think highly of Doctor Attias , but I’m not entirely sure what happened this time or who is to blame. But I blame Lister Hospital.

I found these 2 reviews on Arlesey Medical Centre website mirroring my concerns.

GP Services( review1)

There is no continuity of care. The practice is run by Locums with only two part time GP’s. neither of these bothers to read notes before appointments so have no idea about you or why you may be there. They don’t listen to what you have to say and in general are very disinterested.

We will have to try and move surgeries.

Visited in December 2014. Posted on 12 December 2014

Recent changes to practice( Review 2)

this surgery used to be great but now there is a series of locums so there is little continuity. There is also no female doctors available.
This will probably improve once a permanent GP is appointed.

Visited in October 2014. Posted on 02 November 2014

I believe Health Centres all over the country are experiencing this situation , and I wish I had the answer.

THIS IS THE MEDICAL CENTRE’S CURRENT STATEMENT ON THE SITUATION

There is a national shortage of GPs. Two major factors are long-standing GPs retiring early and a lack of newly-qualified doctors choosing general practice as a career path.

You may recall that Dr Holt left the practice mid August and it is only this week that her replacement, Dr Singh, started with us. In addition to Dr Attias retiring this month , Dr Riasat has decided to pursue her career elsewhere, leaving mid-January, and we have continued to advertise in the market (at competitive rates) for a new GP.

The practice have not been wholly successful although they have had discussions with a very experienced female GP who has committed to a regular locum slot (two days a week) starting at the beginning of February. It may well be that after a few months this doctor will join the practice. In addition Dr Shah who has provided one day locum cover for the last three months will also continue for at least further three months.

The G.P. position remains open and any further applications will be considered. They appreciate that the reliance on locum cover is not ideal from a patient or practice point of view but they are trying to use regular locums.

A spokesman for Lister Hospital said: “We have reviewed again the original referral made by Mr Lombari’s GP, in which no mention is made of suspected skin cancer. If that had been the case, then we would have arranged to see Mr Lombari within two weeks of referral. His referral was vetted by a consultant dermatologist who agreed that based on the clinical information provided, Mr Lombari should be seen for a routine appointment.

“We do accept, however, that Mr Lombari has waited longer than he should have for a date. This was caused, in part, by the Trust carrying consultant dermatologist vacancies at the moment, for which getting reliable locum cover is difficult whilst we are out to recruit new consultants to these posts.”

The other Local doctors is Larksfield Surgery and I have just read terrible reviews about that. Mainly saying you can’t get appointments and that is why we left there more than 5 years ago. When Dr Seaman was running Larksfield it was good and I really liked Dr Hodgson she was good , and Dr Radford. Dr Radford is still there but 2 of my friends have told me u have to book up a month in advance to see him. Some reviews also say this.

Larksfield Surgery replied on 09 January 2014(same old story that they are all saying)

The partners are still trying to find suitable partners to fill the vacancies left by Drs Hodgson and Clapham. Unfortunately, both Drs Southall and Wilkings went off sick unexpectedly, which is making the situation worse. We are doing all we can to find locums, but at short notice, this is not always possible.